Doing good

"Wash yourselves clean! Put away your misdeeds from before my eyes; cease doing evil; learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the orphan's plea, defend the widow." Is 1:16

Justice is a common theme in the bible, and while it is proposed as a good in itself, it is also a foundational way to evaluate our lives, and a path to integrity. However, when individuals and institutions become more concerned with their own welfare, survival and advantage, they move away from the path of righteousness, and corruption soon follows. It is clear that this is what has happened to the church in the United States in recent years.

As the Catholic church grew and planted itself in American soil, it built schools, hospitals, orphanages and so much more. It also began to send missionaries around the world. It was a proud and strong church. Bishops, and sometimes even pastors, could call local civic officials and exert their influence. Stoplights would go up in front of Catholic churches, police patrols were more frequent and soon enough young Catholics began to take their place on planning and school boards, and in local, state and national legislatures. While this is the natural and good path that so many ethnic and cultural groups take in the United States, it can also be very dangerous.

Too often power becomes a good in itself and it is not exercised for the benefit of all, but for one individual,  institution or church. Justice for all, while proclaimed as a value, gets forgotten and institutions like the church become very self protective. There is no longer any doubt that a system like this, left unchecked and unregulated, led to the mushrooming of the sexual abuse scandal. Priests who never should have been reassigned were sent to new parishes more than once, and while they were warned not to offend again, their crimes were hidden from the people to whom they were sent and from their colleagues in ministry. How awful!

"Make justice your aim: redress the wronged," Isaiah shouts, and his challenge must be ours if we are ever to help heal the abused, reclaim the trust of the people and influence our society in a way that helps everyone have a better life, especially the voiceless.

Today, ask pardon for ignoring the gospel demand to live a just life.

Have you been the victim of injustice? Have you been unjust to others?